The present invention relates to bed safety rail mechanisms such as are commonly found on hospital beds. Bed safety rails are typically of a rectangular or trapezoidal configuration and attached to the bed frame by a mechanism which allows the bed rail to be raised and lowered.
The typical bed rail mechanism uses vertical support members which are slidably attached to the bed frame such that the bed rail can be raised and lowered vertically. These sliding-type mechanisms typically lock the bed rail in the raised position by use of a pin engaging a hole in the vertical support member or by a clamping means.
The above-described mechanism has been subject to the loss of component parts. Further, such bed rails can be relatively heavy and awkward for a given operator to raise and lower. If such bed rails are not lowered evenly, they tend to bind, become difficult to move and can jam in an undesired position.